After the Tournament volume 1
by MISCrasyaboutfanfics
Summary: Do not read unless you have read Raven AU volume 1 or you will get confused. Extended version of story first published on the Force of Raven forum.
1. Chapter 1

After the Tournament volume 1 chapter 1

Summary: Myrves has won Raven's tournament but still has to prove to the other champions and to herself that she is Ultimate Warrior material. Sometimes off the battlefield stuff can be more difficult to deal with than demons though. A collection of loosely connected stories taking place during the course of one year.

Disclaimer: I do not own Raven; it belongs to CBBC. I do not own the Ultimate Warriors mentioned here either seeing as they are real people; they own themselves. I do however own Myrves seeing as she is an OC of mine.

It was hard to believe it was all over; Myrves was the first warrior who had worn the cloud emblem in the final week of a tournament to become champion and she was grinning. Sure, she still felt a little homesick and she did miss the friends she had made among her competitors but overall she was now happy as she walked alongside Raven. She felt really small though despite having been the tallest warrior competing in the final week of the quest. It didn't help that as she thought of this fact, her worries were coming to the forefront of her mind and she had many questions. Would the values she was raised on clash too much with his? What would the other champions think of her? When was she going to meet the other warriors who had become champions in person? She wasn't sure she could continue to impress her mentor but maybe the other champions had felt the same way at some point.

She thought of the previous tournament winners: Lamar, Grema, Jaddo, Linma, Arnor, Kenat, Versad, Pargan, Dyrel, and Sarjed plus the warriors who had become champions after completing more dangerous missions: Delra, Corso, and Tanel, who had successfully planted an acorn from an enchanted oak in a place far from Alaunus, Raven's homeland, in order to keep Nevar from getting too much power, then Sonro, who had successfully collected sacred waters from the Secret Temple that Raven had needed to unfreeze Alaunus, and Arkil, who had been the only person pure hearted enough to retrieve the Dragon's Eye without becoming corrupted so that Raven could destroy it. Myrves wondered if she could live up to any of them and if they would accept her as one of their own.

 _Myrves, you almost went the wrong way again._ a familiar voice said in the back of her mind.

The blonde haired teenager made sure she was going in the right direction and sighed. "I thought you had forgotten all about how I nearly went the wrong way during the first day of the tournament. You're never going to let me live that down, are you?" She asked her mentor.

"Not until you remember that just because you bear the cloud emblem does not mean you can have your head in the clouds." Raven replied. He seemed amused by her response more than anything else.

"I can't help it being a daydreamer sometimes." Myrves was trying not to laugh though at his statement regarding her emblem but couldn't help bursting into laughter at it anyway. "In all seriousness, I am aware that I still have a lot to work on when it comes to putting distracting thoughts out of my mind but I am making some progress." She said after she had finished laughing. "I promise I will pay more attention to where I am walking."

"I am holding you to that, Myrves." Raven said to her, knowing she would remember. He mentally reminded himself that she was still young and even after becoming champion, would still need to learn from both him and the other champions in order to be better prepared for whatever battles would occur in the future. For now, the warlord continued walking beside his champion, who was silent once more.

For her part, Myrves was just glad that her mentor was not listening to her thoughts right now; sure, she had gotten used to the fact that he could do that but she was still someone who did value what little privacy she could get seeing as she had grown up with quite a few siblings and barely got a quiet moment to herself. Now she was just taking advantage of the fact that she could enjoy some silence at least for a short while. She still held her staff in her hands, wondering if she would be as good with it as Raven was with his staff.

Soon the sun had started to set and the blonde haired teenager was tired and wishing she could lay down. Today had been very eventful and her feet were sore. So Myrves had only one thing to ask Raven. "Are we there yet?"

"We will arrive at the site I have chosen for us to camp in for the night in a few minutes." He answered her.

"I wasn't planning on asking more than once by the way; I just have always wanted to say that since I never did when I was younger." Myrves explained. "My siblings on the other hand often ask that multiple times during family outings and I am certainly not going to miss that even if I do miss them in general." She sighed as she thought of her parents and siblings; would they soon know she had become champion? Of course they will, she reminded herself.

Before she knew it, they were stopping to camp for the night and Myrves had started the fire and gotten water to use when it was time to put it out as well as water to boil and then gathering some berries while Raven cooked some stew. So it's just me and my mentor, she thought to herself. The blonde haired girl was grinning as soon as supper was ready before she had gotten her stew and started eating, remembering to be polite even if she was miles and miles from any civilization. Just like my favorite book series, she reminded herself silently.

Raven had left Myrves to her thoughts since he knew that she was tired and just trying to relax after a long day. Who could blame her for not wanting to talk and for the mixed emotions she felt? Yet it had been seven years since he had a new champion and Myrves, for all her abilities as a warrior, was still a 13 year old girl who would have to take time getting used to being far away from home and would need more experience in addition to learning how to use her own Staff of Power correctly and responsibly. Teenagers were known for being very difficult and thinking they knew everything; the warlord knew this seeing as he had experience with them. Most wondered how he could do it but Raven was thousands of years old and when someone was that old, they had to have plenty of patience dealing with anyone much younger than them.

After they had finished eating, Myrves looked up at the stars then took a picture of her family out of her bag as well as a picture of herself with her two best friends from home. "I really miss you guys." She said softly.

"Myrves?" Raven looked at her, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, these are images of myself with either family or friends. I miss all of them right now but I think they'll be happy to hear I'm an Ultimate Warrior." Myrves explained, showing him both pictures. "My family may not be as big as the famous big families often talked about in the media but it's still a lot of people compared to most families. And this other picture is of me and my friends, Carnam and Gelmak. Both of them were my only friends at school since all 3 of us were outcasts so to speak or at least felt like it." She paused and took both pictures back from her mentor. "They're probably thinking of me just as much as I'm thinking of them."

Watching her put the two pictures back in her bag, Raven could sense that Myrves was feeling like she couldn't say anything else since she didn't think he was that interested in hearing more. Of course, he actually was interested in hearing more about her homeland and her previous life even if anything she mentioned was confusing; she would find some good way to explain said confusing things seeing as she was smart.

The blonde haired girl took her glasses off and wiped them off with a cloth from her bag. She wondered how strange she was to the warlord who was her mentor seeing as she was used to a world of fast food, electronic devices, indoor plumbing, and so many other modern things. That all seemed miles away though and Myrves wouldn't mention it unless asked. She was used to being without those things now.

"Funny how you are not being so talkative when you were interacting with your fellow warriors with no issues." Raven commented.

"They're close to my age, you're who knows how many thousands of years older!" Myrves argued.

"We both know that's not the real reason, young warrior." He said to her in reply, having sensed that she had just made that up.

"Well, I'm probably really strange considering that most people in my homeland would probably be very unnerved at some of the things that happen to warriors and/or think I was crazy if I told them I won a tournament to become the champion of a warlord who is practically immortal." She explained. Not to mention he'd get in trouble with who knew how many world governments if they knew about Raven having had child soldiers. Then again, the idea of kids competing in a contest to become a warrior fighting in Raven's army did sound unbelievable and most who believed that story probably didn't think that they or someone they knew would be called to compete in such tournaments. Myrves herself had been included in that number of young people who didn't think they would be called even if there was a small possibility of it occurring. "I mean, a few other families living there besides mine believe the stories about you too, including my friend Gelmak's family; he was just as encouraging as my family was when I let everyone know I was leaving to compete in the tournament. He wasn't jealous even if he did have every right to be seeing as his physical disability is bad enough that he couldn't compete even if he wanted to."

"Did Carnam believe you when you told her about it?" Raven asked, genuinely curious.

"She did and was just as encouraging." Myrves answered. "Carnam was always a good friend despite being one of the not so great students in the sense of not doing well in school and getting into fights. Most people wondered what I saw in her as a friend seeing as I was the teacher's pet in school and never getting into trouble."

"You are very fortunate to have such good friends, Myrves even with all their flaws." Raven assured her.

"I know; they are both really great friends." Myrves said. She wondered how they would react when they got the news that she was an Ultimate Warrior. "I wanted to rub it in my tormentors' faces if I won the tournament but I'm not. I'm too nice for that and maybe too nice for my own good like Sabon and Aljos said."

"Do not sell yourself short just because of your kindness, Myrves. You have shown that you know how to be kind without letting others walk all over you in this most recent quest and you can continue to do so." Raven replied. He knew she was not to be underestimated after seeing how she had performed throughout the whole tournament.

"I guess I am tough enough to handle whatever happens next then. I was worried I wasn't." She admitted, taking Raven's words to heart. "Maybe I can handle it all and get used to being away from home even if it is difficult."

"I'm sure you will, young warrior. Just remember something I have told other warriors before: as a gem can not be polished without friction, a warrior can not be perfected without trials." He said to the young champion. "Perhaps you might want to sleep on this seeing as it is getting late now and we have far to travel tomorrow if you want to meet your predecessors as soon as possible."

"Very well then. I guess that's a great idea." Myrves yawned. "Good night Raven; see you in the morning." She went to unroll her bedding, feeling optimistic and safe. Once she had her bedding unrolled and her pillow near where she would put her head, she laid down on it and pulled the blanket over her after putting her glasses away. The blonde haired 13 year old girl was soon out like a light.

"Good night Myrves." Raven replied. As he always did when he had a warrior with him, he kept watch and had cast a protection spell to also keep Myrves safe. Only time would tell whether she would actually be as good as her predecessors but anything could happen; there was no way of predicting the future after all.

For her part, Myrves slept peacefully and dreamed of being accepted by the previous champions. She hoped she would be upon showing them what she could do. She just had to handle everything one day at a time.


	2. Chapter 2

After the Tournament volume 1 chapter 2

After Myrves had gone to sleep, Raven began writing a letter to his newest champion's parents. He knew they would be as proud of her as he was. The letter itself wound up saying the following: "Dear Timves and Dotves, it is with great joy that I am informing you that your daughter Myrves has won my eleventh tournament and become an Ultimate Warrior. She may be the second oldest child in your household but she is also the first warrior bearing the cloud emblem to win, something I am sure many did not expect to happen. Nonetheless, she will soon be fighting in battle alongside her predecessors against Nevar's demons and I have hope that she will be able to handle the trials that lie ahead of her. She will be allowed to visit home every six months unless things are too dangerous for her to make such a journey. You may explain her absence by saying that she is living with another relative and continuing her education elsewhere to get away from those who have bullied her in the past. Ultimately, Myrves' fate is in her own hands regardless of what happens to her next. May the luck of the Raven's Eye be with you and your family. Sincerely, Raven."

Raven sent the letter via magic; it would reach Myrves' family in the morning. He continued to keep watch as he wrote a log entry regarding his thoughts on her. To think that she had at first assumed it was a joke when she had been called to the quest and yet had been convinced when realising Raven was not the type to make that kind of joke. The only reason people from Myrves' homeland had not been called prior to this quest was simply because the warlord had not thought to travel that far before. That said, he had made the decision to call Myrves and Verko after the Raven's Eye had shown them as possible candidates as warriors and it had been worth the extra time used to do that.

Raven looked over towards the space where Myrves was sleeping; she seemed to be having a good dream judging by her content look. He knew Nevar would not try to do anything yet but it was better to be safe than sorry. He continued to keep watch throughout the night. It helped that he didn't have to get as much sleep as a mortal did.

The next morning, Raven had been taking flight in his avian form as a way of ensuring that the path ahead of him and his young champion was safe to travel on. Thankfully, it was and now it was time for him to return and wake her up if she wasn't awake yet.

In the meanwhile, Myrves was already awake and had put away her things after getting dressed and rolling up her bedding. She had started the fire and had to jump back a little when she had put too much fuel in it. She wasn't burned but that was still too close for comfort. She saw Raven landing before transforming into his human form.

"I'm okay. I didn't get burned." Myrves said as her mentor looked her over.

"You are very lucky then, young warrior. Considering the fact that you couldn't handle Dragon's Blood any better, you may need a few more lessons in dealing with dangerous things carefully." He joked as he began cooking breakfast.

"Hey, I'm just eager to get going since I want to get there as soon as possible! And I only spilled the Dragon's Blood because my hands were shaking way too much and that wasn't the case here!" Myrves argued.

"There are some things that should not be rushed, Myrves. You may be used to a fast paced world but you are no longer living in one." Raven reminded her.

Myrves sliced some apples carefully and then thought about his words. It was true that the world she grew up in was fast paced and not many people there took time to appreciate the little things around them. She would have to change her thought process to adjust to not having to rush all the time.

When breakfast was over and everything was packed up and the campsite clean, they were on their way once more. 3 more days until they could finally meet up with the other champions. Myrves was excited about that and she knew said 3 days could pass by very quickly. She wondered what Raven was like as a teenager although it was admittedly hard to picture him at that point in life.

Raven had to interrupt her thoughts. "Do you wish to share any stories you have heard from your homeland, young warrior?"

"Well, it's hard to pick just one." Myrves admitted, trying to think of a story that would be easy to tell and explain as she held her staff under her right arm. "It would be a good way to pass the time though. I've heard a lot of stories, both fiction and nonfiction over the years; I like most of the ones I heard and that's why I always did more reading than physical activities. Maybe I could just tell you about something that happened to me even if it is hard to explain a little bit because of cultural differences."

Raven had no objection to that. "You are a smart warrior, my friend. I am sure you will be able to explain anything that confuses me to the best of your abilities."

"Okay. I think the easiest one to tell would probably be the one about the time my friend Carnam beat up someone who had stolen my glasses." Myrves began to tell the story. "I was twelve years old at the time and in the secondary school, or middle school and several bullies were basically being pains in the rear. One of them swiped my glasses out of my hands while I was cleaning them and I wasn't fast enough to go after them. Carnam was so she ran up and shoved Anvet, the girl who had taken them, against the wall. Anvet didn't want to give my glasses back though but Carnam snatched them back and handed them to me so I could put them back on. Then the two got into a fight and I had to leave and get to my next class so I didn't see what happened afterwards. I did hear my dear friend swearing like a sailor though before leaving the scene. I felt bad about the fact that I couldn't stand up for myself at that point though all because I was scared of those stupid zero tolerance rules." She sighed sadly.

"I do not understand what that means, young warrior." Raven was indeed a little bit confused at the phrase "zero tolerance".

"Zero tolerance? Simply put, in my school and in many other schools in my homeland, the harshest punishments necessary would be given for any rule breaking regardless of whether it was a major rule violation or not including for any fights regardless of whether one could claim they were fighting in self-defense or defending another person which Carnam always did since she didn't want me to ruin my reputation. She did the same thing to anyone who bothered Gelmak." Myrves answered. "I know it doesn't make any logical sense, you don't have to tell me. I did stand up to Anvet a few days later when she was bothering me and said 'I'm not scared of you and I don't care about what you have to say to insult me'. I was surprised I was able to do that without fighting and she never bothered me again. I think she was just jealous because I was one of the smartest students that year."

"Jealousy can make many individuals do horrible things they otherwise would not do. That is not to say that there are not healthy ways to handle it." Raven assured her.

"Yeah; I was jealous of the fact that so many of the warriors I was up against in the first week of the quest were better at physical challenges but I decided to use that as inspiration to get better at them myself. I still have a long way to go before my physical skills are as good as my mental skills but I am getting there. I know I can never be 100 percent perfect." The blonde haired teenager commented. "Funny how I didn't think I would wind up going on a quest that most citizens of my homeland would think of as only being in a fantasy novel. Maybe I could write my own story down as I write more in my journal and have it published after I die so that everyone will know it whether they believe it or not."

"Are you sure you would want others to know about some of your thoughts besides myself?" Raven asked.

"Well, maybe not." Myrves quickly changed her mind. "Maybe I could just write a regular autobiography like everyone else. Yeah, that sounds like a better idea. Speaking of that, how is my not returning to my school next year going to be explained?"

Of course, her mentor had a good answer for that one. "I did say in my letter to your parents that they could just say you went to live with another relative and are attending school where they live."

"How is my homeland's government not going to find out the truth though? Because someone probably would get suspicious and realize something isn't right." The young warrior pointed out.

"That will be explained when you are old enough to learn about the type of magic used to prevent that kind of suspicion from happening." Raven answered.

"Well, I suppose I can try my best to wait on that one even if it is hard." Myrves decided. She trusted the warlord she was going to be the student to so whatever it was he had done to keep her from being considered a missing person would work really well. "And I guess there's other questions I can't get the answers to until I'm older."

Raven barely kept himself from smiling. "You are a very perceptive young warrior Myrves, and correct in that assumption."

"What? I can't help it being curious." She argued. "And the whole 'I'll tell you when your older' phrase has often been used by my parents and in the stories I read. I guess that's one thing that's the same across two very different lifestyles." We are capable of understanding each other, Myrves concluded in her thoughts. Maybe they never would understand each other completely but this was a good start at doing it as best as they could.

"I will answer whatever questions I can honestly, young warrior. I do not believe in what you might call 'sugarcoating' anything." Her mentor explained.

"I know and now that you mention sugar, I'm starting to get hungry again." Myrves dug an apple out of her bag and began eating it. Sure, it wasn't the same as munching on something unhealthy but tasty but still, that was not a bad thing. "I'm sorry if I'm weird to you; I don't want my whole homeland judged based just on how I act."

"I will reserve my judgment until I meet other warriors from there, my friend." Raven replied. Culture clashes would most likely be a regular occurrence for a while and he realized that; it would just be a part of the learning process Myrves would go through along with having to learn to remain focused, knowing the difference between things she could handle on her own and things she would need others' help with, and handling her emotions well. Of course, it was hard to say how long that might take but Raven knew that he would need a lot of patience in reserves. For the moment, the warlord walked with his champion and they continued on their way, not knowing what was to happen in the future any more than they had yesterday.


	3. Chapter 3

After the Tournament chapter 3

The afternoon had been surprisingly uneventful though Myrves had listened to Raven tell her a story about the first week of his first tournament long ago about what had nearly happened when two warriors had accidentally wandered off from the paths when looking for their standards. The blonde haired girl wasn't sure why her mentor was telling her this story at first but did not object.

"They were both really lucky you found them." Myrves commented.

"Indeed; it is one reason why I always remind warriors not to wander off as worse things could have happened." Raven said in reply as they arrived at their campsite for the night.

Now the blonde haired teenager, who had to blink her blue eyes a little bit as she took off her glasses to wipe them off after stopping walking, got why he was telling that story. He wanted her to not have to learn don't stray from the path the hard way. She finished cleaning her glasses and put them back on then helped with making supper. Myrves was hoping that tonight would be as uneventful as today was.

Raven was observing Myrves as she ate her food and then opted to look at the stars as opposed to writing in her journal this evening. She was waiting for the few clouds that there were to move so that she could properly see some of the constellations she had learned about in school. Of course if she wanted to be an astronomer instead of a warrior, he could have her become a student to Cyrus but when he asked, the reply the warlord got was surprising.

"I don't want to be a professional astronomer. I just wanted to look at the stars since I never really got to do that very often." Myrves explained. "Growing up in a fast paced world meant not a lot of time to appreciate things like this and I just wanted to take a little bit of time to admire the sight. I still want to be a warrior for the rest of my life."

Satisfied with that answer, Raven did have another question for the champion sitting next to him. "Yet you still found time to read despite living in a fast paced homeland; can you explain that?"

"Well, yeah. I always set aside half an hour to an hour to read every day since my parents were okay with that as long as I kept up with my studies and my household chores." The teenage girl explained. She was thinking of how much she missed home and the peace of it but at the same time, did not want to go back. Not right now.

Then Myrves was distracted from these thoughts upon seeing what looked like a shooting star. She made a wish that the other champions would accept her as one of their own despite the fact that she was probably a little strange to them as well as to Raven.

Of course the warlord could guess what the young warrior's wish was; he knew only time would tell whether it would come true. "I would not sit here too long, young warrior. You do need to get some sleep." He reminded her.

"I know that." Myrves replied. She was thinking about her family and friends now. "How do you get used to being away from home despite missing it?"

"With time and experience, my friend. I do still miss my own homeland at times although I do not think about that as much as I used to." Raven answered her. "That is a story for another time though."

"I can't wait to hear it." The teenage girl admitted as she got up and unrolled her bedding. She then went to bathe in a nearby stream, being aware that someone could catch her in such a vulnerable position and attack. Thankfully such a thing did not happen and she was able to clean herself off in peace. She then put on her white pajamas and took her dirty clothes to stuff them back in her bag of belongings. Once she was done doing that, she placed her glasses in their case and put that away as well before laying down.

"Good night Myrves." Raven said to her.

"Good night Raven." Myrves yawned and fell asleep as her mentor kept watch and tended to the fire. She was dreaming of being on a tropical island and relaxing once Nevar was defeated. Whether that possibility would become reality was another matter but it was still a nice dream nonetheless and was something the young warrior wanted to achieve no matter how hard it was.

The next morning, Myrves had not quite gotten up in time and so Raven had to wake her up.

"Myrves, breakfast is almost ready." The warlord reminded his young champion.

"Okay. I wish I could have five more minutes though." The teenage girl got up and started putting on clean clothes. After she was dressed, she put on her glasses and packed up her belongings. She then had breakfast with her mentor and then they put out the fire before quickly washing the dishes in the stream and making sure they had everything before leaving.

As they walked, Raven listened as Myrves told him about her dream and that it had taken her a while to get used to the fact that she was now somewhere that wasn't quite as warm as her hometown got.

"I guess it's a good thing this outfit magically keeps me warm." Myrves had finished.

"Aye, all of the warrior clothes past competitors and champions have worn were specifically made that way via a spell that was cast on the threads used to sew them." Raven explained. "You will be learning that particular spell soon."

"I can't wait to learn it. I'm kind of excited about getting to learn about magic in general." Myrves looked like she was about to bounce up and down in excitement. She had read fantasy books involving magic at home, mainly the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and the _Harry Potter_ books. She knew of course that there was a huge difference between fantasy and reality much like most people her age and she felt sorry for those who couldn't tell the difference but that thought could be entertained another day.

Raven was not surprised. Most of the past champions had felt the same way. Still a willing student was the best kind of student to have. "You will learn more about it in time, young Myrves." He assured her.

Myrves smiled as she walked beside her mentor. She was ready for whatever happened next during her time as a permanent warrior. At least she was sure she was.


	4. Chapter 4

After the Tournament volume 1 chapter 4

When they had arrived a few days ago at the headquarters that housed the Ultimate Warriors, Myrves had been welcomed with open arms much to her relief. She had also started more further training the day after arriving, usually training with Sarjed or Versad or at times, Arkil, though some of the others also took turns and it was one day when she was in the middle of trying to learn to use a catapult and failing epically to hit anything that she shouted "Stupid piece of shit."

Then when she realized it, she face palmed; she remembered Sarjed mentioning to her five days ago that Raven had expected all the Ultimate Warriors to try not to do that when not in battle; it was a part of the rules he had for all of them.

Of course Raven had heard it loud and clear when he came outside to check on her. It was shocking really that someone with such a sweet nature and generally good behavior would use such a term. He did compose himself though and had one question to ask her. "Myrves, where did you first hear that term?"

"It was from my older sister and my parents. It's not the only swear word I know. There are some I heard in the kind of media my friend Carnam likes." She admitted guiltily as she turned to face him. "I'm just so frustrated right now; I thought I was pulling this back far enough but I guess I wasn't." Myrves was referring to the catapult.

The warlord had only one thing to say to that. "Myrves, you need to be more careful about your choice of words or you might have something unpleasant happen as punishment."

"Like having to wash my mouth out with soap? That used to be used a lot in some of the families in my homeland." The teenage girl hadn't meant Raven to take it as a suggestion; she just hadn't thought again about what to say.

Of course, Raven did seem to be thinking about how effective that might be. "Perhaps; it does sound like a good deterrent." He said, having liked the idea. "That will happen the next time myself or your fellows hear such filthy language from you. You should know better about throwing those terms around freely and not thinking about what they mean."

Myrves continued practicing using the catapult for another hour before she was allowed a break. She went inside the portal that took her to the main room inside of the headquarters; this headquarters, appropriately enough, was on the inside of the middle of one of the tallest trees Myrves had ever seen when she had first gotten there. It was bigger on the inside than it was on the outside thanks to magic and while Raven had his own personal space near the top of the tree, the warriors' quarters, the training room, the sick bay, and other such rooms were still high up and just underneath it. She went down the hallway that had the female warriors' quarters and went into the ones she slept in to write in her journal. It would be very, very hard to keep herself from swearing; sure she had kept herself from doing it in the final week of the tournament and during her first 5 days here but it was discouraging to realize she had fallen of the wagon again and had gotten lucky to be let off with a warning.

It was two days later when Myrves was looking for her glasses after she had finished bathing in the evening and had gotten dressed. She thought she had left them in her quarters on the shelf where she always put them but they didn't seem to be anywhere as she looked around for them. She had the door closed and she knew Raven would come down the hallway soon to check to be sure everyone was asleep. She crawled under the bed to see where they were and finally found them. She muttered the famous "f dash-dash-dash" word as she got herself out from under the bed and put her glasses in her case. In fact, she used it twice. "How could they have fallen off?" She had asked after her last f-strike while putting her glasses in their case on the shelf.

Raven had come down the hallway and was opening the door after the young champion had said that. "Myrves, what just happened?" He asked.

Myrves immediately turned and began feeling guilty as she removed her glasses from their case and put them on. She was trying to hide it though as she looked around. "Um, nothing."

"You are a very bad liar, young warrior; I do not need to hear your thoughts to tell that you are not being truthful." Raven informed her. He knew what he had heard her say and made a note to try to get her to use alternatives to profanity in the future.

"Okay, it really wasn't fucking nothing! I did use the f-word because I misplaced my glasses and had to crawl under the bed to find them." Myrves admitted.

"You know what you have to do now Myrves; the soap is near the handwashing basin." Her mentor said, disappointed that she had slipped up and used that term. "You will not be allowed to sleep until you have had the soap in your mouth for a minute before rinsing it out. I will be setting this sand timer to make sure you actually do it for the correct amount of time. Perhaps it might help you to break one of your bad habits"

Myrves immediately went over to the basin in the main room and stuck the bar of soap in her mouth as Raven turned the timer over to start it. She wanted to gag and spit it out but had to resist the urge to do so; she feared what would happen if she spit it out early.

 _Tastes terrible, does it not?_ Raven asked in the back of her mind.

Myrves didn't answer verbally or in her thoughts; she just looked down in shame. There were 30 seconds left now before she could spit out the soap. She couldn't stand it anymore and just wanted this to be over with.

After the sands had run dry, Myrves spit out the bar of soap and rinsed out her mouth with cool water from a metal cup and then rinsed the soap bar off with hot water. Now she knew why this punishment wasn't used quite as much these days. "I'm sorry; you're right, it does taste terrible." She said to Raven. "I still don't quite understand why it's such a big deal considering that there's worse things I could be doing besides using profanity."

"It is still a habit I would rather you not have. We will be having a talk tomorrow afternoon about this, Myrves. For now, you must go to sleep." He replied.

Myrves bid her mentor good night. She had wanted to say something along the lines of "you're not my parent, you can't tell me how to talk" but thought better of it; Raven was not her father but he was still an authority figure so she had to listen to him. So the blonde haired girl returned to her quarters and put her glasses away in the correct place this time. How could I have slipped up like that, she thought, dreading the thought of being lectured tomorrow.

Of all the bad habits a warrior could have, Raven had not expected swearing like a sailor to be one of the ones Myrves had dealt with in addition to her getting too emotional at times. He knew it would take a long time before she could completely break those habits and as he wrote down notes about the youngest champion's progress, the warlord hoped she would understand why he had certain rules that all the Ultimate Warriors had to follow even if they were more strict than the ones she was used to at home.

The very next morning, Myrves got up and ate breakfast. When the other Ultimate warriors asked her what had happened to her yesterday, she was reluctant to admit it at first before telling them about the swearing and having to wash her mouth out with soap as her punishment.

"You really did that? I'm shocked." Arkil admitted.

"Yes; I didn't mean to use the f-word. I was just so frustrated since I don't want to lose one or both of my pairs of glasses permanently." Myrves replied. "I am never going to break that habit, am I?"

"You will; you're not the first one of us who has gotten caught swearing by Raven." Pargan assured the youngest champion. "Now finish eating because you will be working with Sarjed, Dyrel, and I this morning."

Myrves finished eating and went outside to work on endurance related further training with her three immediate predecessors. She had been looking forward to working with them and it was a good way of keeping her distracted from the fact that she was dreading getting lectured by Raven. She didn't know what he would say to her during that upcoming lecture but she pushed it aside for the moment when Sarjed reminded Myrves "Pay attention!"

It was much later after that morning training session and lunch had been eaten that Raven led Myrves into the library for their meeting. He noticed that she couldn't bring herself to look up and instead was looking down at her feet, a habit she had whenever she had done something wrong or had said something she didn't think sounded great. She just couldn't bring herself to look at him but was accepting the inevitable dressing down she would be given.

"Myrves, look at me." Raven told her firmly.

She did as they stopped walking and stood near a set of shelves.

"I would think you would know better about thinking before you say something." He continued. "Did you ever use foul language at home, young warrior?"

"Sometimes I would when I was frustrated with my younger siblings and had lost patience with them. I think I rubbed off badly on them and my parents would have to threaten to take away my reading time to get me to stop." Myrves answered, knowing there was no point in lying about how often she had used those terms before. "I never used them in school though or any other public place. Or at least, I tried not to. Unfortunately, I was not the only person who unintentionally taught my younger siblings curse words; my parents let a few slip themselves and so did my older sister and some of my siblings' friends. My parents eventually just gave up on trying to get us to not use them at home but did say not to swear when company was visiting or when we were in school. It just became really easy to fall back on those words during the rare times I did get angry enough to use them and since it became something that wasn't a big deal at home, that's why I didn't really think about how the views on that would be very different for you and the older champions. I did also swear a few times during the first week of the tournament but I was cut off when taken by demons due to losing challenges."

Raven had been listening as she said this. It was a surprise that she had used such words numerous times before when living in her homeland and unfortunate that her family had also had the same habit of falling back on profanity in normal everyday conflicts. He could understand when the Ultimate Warriors swore during battle since usually, no one younger than they were was present and in battle, one had more serious things to worry about than watching their language but every other time, it was not acceptable in the warlord's eyes. Myrves was being truthful though as hard as it was to believe. "Myrves, did Aljos or Verko tell you about how a failure to be careful of words caused a rift between them during the second week of the tournament?" He asked.

"Verko told me about it when we had breakfast before doing Warrior's Race in the final week but what does that have to do with this? Neither one of them used swear words." The teenage girl replied, still confused at what Raven was getting at.

"That is not the point, young warrior." Raven paused briefly before deciding to ask another question to her. "Do you understand the concept about thinking before you say something hurtful, curse words or not?"

"Sort of. I was upset last night to the point that I wanted to say 'you're not my parent, you can't tell me how to speak' but I didn't say it because I realized even if the first part is true, the second part is not. I do have to listen to you and I realized it would probably not be a good idea to voice that sentiment out loud." Myrves sighed sadly. "I shouldn't have said the f-word or taken my frustration out on you. I'm sorry Raven. I guess maybe I will never understand the rules you have completely; I still don't get the no swearing off the battlefield rule completely and I doubt I can break my habit of using profanity."

"Myrves, the reason for that rule as strict as it is compared to your family's rules is simple: those who swear like sailors often sound like they are uneducated to people who do not know them personally and it makes it seem like I do not hold my warriors to high standards even though that is far from the truth. Would you want my mentor Cyrus thinking badly about you or any parents of potential warriors thinking the same should you ever get the chance to interact with someone younger or older than you in the future and such filthy terms slipped out?" Raven asked her.

It seemed Myrves finally understood what the warlord who was her mentor was saying to her now. "Yes; many of those swear words that I've heard do have definitions that make them insults to specific groups of people like when someone uses the term for a female dog to insult a female human. I would not like to hear that or any of the other profane words that there are from someone else regardless of whether they're directed at me or not so why would anyone want to hear them from me regardless of who or what it's aimed at? Even without swearing, there's still a lot of ways to hurt with words even though most don't think about words being that harmful because of the poem about how 'sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me'. What a lie the second part of that poem is."

"That is exactly why you must be watchful of what you say and not only do so to try to avoid profane words." Raven was relieved that Myrves understood the point. "While breaking your habit of swearing will not be easy, it is possible to do though it will take quite some time and perhaps a few more instances of washing out your mouth with soap to do it. I can forgive you Myrves and I hope you remember this lesson."

"I promise I will watch what I say from now on. I know I am capable of doing that if I'm capable of being a warrior." Myrves was determined and smiling. She was glad to no longer be in trouble and she intended to keep that promise.

"Let us hope so, my friend. You may leave now since you still have your afternoon training to do." Raven reminded her.

"Thank you for reminding me! I'll see you later!" Myrves immediately left, not running just walking fast.

After she had left, Raven went to write down more notes about Myrves' progress. He hoped she would indeed not swear again and be a little less impulsive with what she said in general and that she would not get discouraged if she did slip up. She was still young and still learning after all.


	5. Chapter 5

After the Tournament chapter 5

From Myrves' journal entry number 16

July 14th, 2017

Dear Journal, it has been two weeks since I became Raven's champion and almost 3 days since I last used swear words. Raven said if I didn't use any swear words for a week, he would let me have 5 extra minutes of reading time so that I can have an hour break each day rather than a 55 minute one. That surprised me that he bribed me but it is working since I really, really want to break that bad habit ASAP.

Anyway, today I got to train with Lamar and Grema and they were not easy on me at all. I was glad about that though even if I don't have great hand to hand combat skills like they have. I hope to get much better at that but as they say, practice makes perfect. I also had to start reading a bit about the history of Alaunus; Raven told me I had to do that since knowledge is just as powerful as any other weapon in a warrior's arsenal. Considering that my mentor's namesake bird form does symbolize wisdom in many cultures, I guess he might be right. That said, it is interesting reading all about Raven's homeland and I almost couldn't put the book down to stop and eat supper. I can't tell if Raven was surprised at how interested I was in learning about where he grew up or not but then again, there are a lot of things I'll probably never know about him.

Tomorrow, I will have to read more about my mentor's homeland and then get started with learning how to use my Staff of Power finally. I don't know if I'll ever be as good with it as Raven is with his own staff but I hope to be able to use it well and for the right reasons. After all, one of my favorite stories has a saying that I think my mentor might like: "With great power, there must come great responsibility.". I wonder if I will be able to explain the story it comes from well if I ever get a chance to tell him about it...

(End entry)

As Myrves quickly found out the next day, using a Staff of Power was not as easy as Raven made it look. For one thing, putting out the right amount of energy to do something could take someone who was a beginner with this sort of magical weapon a slightly longer time than an expert. That said, Myrves tried not to get discouraged although it was tough.

"Do not be too disheartened, young warrior. You will have plenty of time to practice tomorrow." Raven assured her. "For now, it is time we went inside since a storm is coming."

"Okay then." Myrves looked up at the dark clouds briefly before following her mentor inside and going to get a cup of tea so that she could have something to sip while reading her book in the main gathering area. It wasn't that cold mind you; she just liked tea as her favorite thing to drink. She was soon sitting in a comfortable armchair, reading the book she had with her and sipping the tea.

Raven was writing in his own log while observing the American champion. She was getting there as far as making progress in her skills went though it was a very slow process. Still he had often said that the tree that is slowest to grow bears the finest fruit and perhaps that saying would prove true again.

Myrves had also done well with making sure her letters weren't giving away too much about what she was doing just in case an enemy intercepted them. Thankfully, that had not happened but it was better to be safe than sorry. She had also started recently helping tend to the vegetable garden when possible; each of the warriors took turns doing that as well as other things such as gathering firewood, washing laundry, dusting off shelves and furniture, and ensuring that there were plenty of potion ingredients around so that injuries or illnesses could be treated as quickly as possible. If they were running low on anything, Raven would usually get some ingredients from Cyrus in exchange for keeping him and Princess Erina updated on the goings on so that they could at least attempt to predict Nevar's next move.

Raven put those thoughts aside. Whatever Myrves was reading seemed to be quite interesting so he would not disturb her until her break was over. He continued his writing about her progress, hoping she could continue to improve before her first mission.


	6. Chapter 6

After the Tournament volume 1 chapter 6

Author's note: This is dedicated to a cousin of mine who died back in January 2017; I did not know him well and yet I still miss him.

Disclaimer: I do not own the song "What hurts the most". Song lyrics are in bold.

Two months since she had become a full time member of Raven's army and Myrves had mostly been doing well. This afternoon she was in her quarters opening a letter from her family and while glad to get it, soon wished she hadn't. Included with the letter was a photo of her older cousin Tanlev that was part of an obituary for him. The date of death listed was the previous night and the young warrior could only guess magic had ensured the letter would arrive as soon as possible.

'"Dear Myrves, we don't know how fast this letter will get to you and we know you can't come home yet to visit but we need to share some bad news with you. Tanlev died in an accident when he was at work repairing a customer's car. The jack holding up the car broke and caused the car to fall on him, killing him instantly. There was nothing anyone could do. We wanted to let you know this happened even though you might not be able to come to the funeral…"' Myrves stopped reading immediately.

She reread it again; she was not imagining those words as much as she wished that was the case. She noticed the other various family photos she had been sent in the envelope, some of which had Tanlev pictured and she immediately put them all in the desk drawer. If anyone asked, she was going to explain what happened but she did not want to talk a lot about it. She couldn't bring herself to and instead sat on her bed and sobbed as rain started pouring outside.

Myrves recalled times she had seen Tanlev at family reunions as she tried to blink back tears and went out to get supper. Her plans of explaining what was wrong went out the window as she managed to stop her tears for the moment; she didn't want to appear weak in front of the other champions.

Washing her hands and then getting in the queue for supper, Myrves was acting normal. Raven noticed she was not okay though; he could sense her grief and that she was trying to hide it. He was not the only one who noticed.

"Myrves, you're not being talkative like you usually are. Are you okay?" Dyrel asked the younger champion five minutes later.

"I'm fine." Myrves lied. "Please excuse me." She left the table immediately and returned to her quarters. She then took the pictures out of the drawer she had hidden them in. She hadn't talked to Tanlev when she had seen him during the family reunions depicted in the images and now she was regretting it.

Myrves had been left alone and did not sleep that peacefully through the whole night and the next morning, she just did her normal training and assigned reading as if nothing was wrong. She wanted to act like that and not seem like she was weak for feeling such negative emotions but it would not fool Raven even if it was fooling her fellow champions. He had given her space though as he knew she would be reluctant to talk.

That afternoon, Myrves locked herself in her quarters, well she would have if there was a lock on the door. She instead went under the bed and stayed there. She didn't want to talk to anyone and she certainly didn't want a hug or anything. At least that's what she wanted to convince herself was the case. I wish I had gotten to know you better Tanlev; I shouldn't be missing you this much, Myrves thought.

Raven knew his warriors well and that sometimes he had to step out of his role as commander and be like a parent. The Raven's Eye on his staff had shown him Myrves reading the letter she had gotten and what she was thinking as he approached her room to tell her that supper was ready. She had been in there for probably an hour now, maybe a bit longer. He knocked on the door.

"Go away!" Myrves shouted. "Please." She added in a more normal volume.

"Myrves, you can not skip any meals." Raven replied.

"I don't care! I'm not hungry right now. I'm fine." The teenager lied.

"You certainly do not sound like you are fine, young warrior." The warlord had to take a moment to compose himself. He knew everyone grieved differently and that she wasn't angry with him despite the lashing out.

"Okay, I'll come to supper." Myrves got out from under the bed and opted to go and eat anyway. She went to wash her hands at the basin and then went to join everyone else.

"Myrves, what is going on? We are all worried." Lamar said to her.

"Fine, I may as well admit the truth since Raven's going to know it already anyway. My cousin recently died and I just got the news yesterday." Myrves answered. "I don't know what to think since I didn't know him that well."

"I'm so sorry Myrves." Arkil said softly, feeling sympathy for the teenager.

The others said the same thing and asked Myrves if she wanted a hug.

"I don't know what I want right now." Myrves admitted. "I'm not ready to talk more about it yet."

"Whenever you're ready to, we'll be here to listen." Dyrel assured her.

Myrves then returned to her quarters to get ready for bed. She was not going to be okay for a long time and everyone knew this.

About half an hour later, the blonde haired teenager was writing in her journal and singing a sad song from her home land to herself. "… **What hurts the most was being so close and having so much to say and watching you walk away. Never knowing what could have been and not seeing that loving you is what I was trying to do**." She couldn't finish it though as she closed her journal and put it away as she began to cry.

She heard a knock on the door; she had to guess it was Raven. "Don't come in please." She put her glasses in their case and began sobbing into her pillow to try to make it not sound so obvious that she was hurting deeply.

"Myrves, are you sure you do not want to talk?" Raven asked her. Even if he didn't have the Raven's Eye, it would still be obvious to him how much her loss had affected her just as it was obvious now.

"I just want everyone to leave me alone now." Myrves answered. "And I want to sleep."

"Very well, young warrior. You know where to find your fellows or myself if you do change your mind." Raven left her to sleep; he couldn't believe she was being stubborn when she had never acted like that before but that was just how it was with grief; everyone dealt with it differently and not always in a healthy way. He could only hope she would be willing to talk later and that she would realize avoiding the problem would not solve it.


	7. Chapter 7

After the Tournament Volume 1 chapter 7

Author's Note: As with the previous chapter, this is dedicated to my deceased second cousin Cory.

Myrves did not sleep for long that night; she had a nightmare about what Tanlev's death must have been like and she woke up, once again crying. She blinked and then got up after a few moments. She decided to get up and refill her cup with water, heading to the mess hall to do so and being as quiet as possible, carefully carrying the candle from her room after relighting it so she could see where she was going. She didn't realize that Raven was still awake and that he was following her until she got to said mess hall and filled her cup using water from a jug and looked behind her to see him.

"Hey." Myrves was trying to act like she hadn't been terrified by the nightmare. "I was just thirsty; that's why I'm up."

Raven knew she was omitting the real reason why she was awake. "Are you sure there is not another reason you are awake at this hour, young warrior?" he asked.

"Yes being thirsty is not the only reason I am awake." Myrves had wanted to lie but knew that was pointless so had stopped herself just in time. She was sure she was going to cry again. I can't cry in front of my mentor, she thought.

"Myrves, avoiding what is troubling you is not a way of solving it whether it is ignoring feelings or another crisis." The warlord said to her. "Come."

Following Raven, Myrves held her cup of water in one hand and the candle in the other as they walked down the hall into the library. The teenager knew she would not be able to get back to sleep on her own and maybe it was for the best she was going to talk with her mentor now. When they were in the library, Myrves sat on an armchair near the bookshelves her assigned reading pieces were stored on and set the candle down on a nearby table before taking a sip of water.

Raven sat in another chair next to the young champion. He could sense that she was trying to not shed any tears despite her grief and it was heartbreaking she didn't feel she could show her emotions right now; it was one of those times when it was okay for someone to do so.

"I miss my cousin Tanlev even though I didn't know him well." Myrves finally said. She also explained what she had seen in her nightmare: Tanlev's coworkers trying to help him in vain and the realization by medical personnel that there was nothing one could do for him. "Those were the details in the letter I was sent explaining what happened and I know I should not be missing Tanlev since I didn't know him that well but it still hurts because he's family and I regret not getting to know him better while he was alive. And he was only in his early twenties and had just gotten married." Despite her best efforts, the American warrior had a few tears falling from her eyes. "I didn't want to talk about it earlier since I didn't want to be seen crying and I didn't want to be thought of as weak for showing my emotions."

Raven gave Myrves a cloth to wipe the tears off her face and put his hand on her right shoulder. "You are not weak for needing time to grieve your loss, my young friend." He assured her.

That was what Myrves had needed to hear to convince her to not fight the tears anymore; she sat there and cried while Raven remained by her side, not saying anything as he kept her company. It felt good to let it out like this even though she would not feel okay for who knew how long.

About 15 minutes later, Myrves had stopped crying and was able to sip some more water. "Thank you Raven for just listening and keeping me company. That was really what I wanted even though I tried to deny it." She said to him.

"You are welcome Myrves." Raven knew that this had been needed by the young champion. One could only hope she didn't have any more nightmares.

"I might be able to sleep now but I don't know how long it will take for me to get back to my normal self." She said as she sipped some more water from her cup.

"Even if it does take a long time, your fellows and I will be there for you, young warrior. I can promise you that much." Raven assured her.

"Thank you again Raven; I hope you have a good night." Myrves got up and left the library, returning to her quarters with the two things she was carrying. She set the candle down on her bedside table and blew it out before setting her cup down near it and laying back down on the bed. She had fallen back asleep shortly after putting her blankets back over herself. She was not okay; she wasn't sure when she would be able to say that she was okay but at least she would not be alone in dealing with her grief.

Raven made a note to allow Myrves a longer break the next day since she was clearly still not in a state to focus on a lot of training since she had barely been able to do it during today. She will find a reason to be happy again someday and she will learn to continue to live despite her loss, he reminded himself as he retired to his own quarters. It was rare for him to step out of the role as teacher and be like a parent but he had done that before with the older champions when necessary. He had been there for all of his fledglings numerous times and would continue to be there when they needed him in the future even if it was not always obvious that he did care.


	8. Chapter 8

After the Tournament volume 1 chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Raven though I wish I wasn't too old to be a warrior on the show.

Where on Earth were the blackberries that had been picked earlier? Raven looked around for the basket of them, not sure of what had happened. He decided to ask the other warriors as he walked through headquarters. He had a sneaking suspicion of what had happened but he was going to investigate before making seemingly baseless accusations.

It had been 5 days since Tanlev had died and before her break while Raven was assigning Lamar and Jaddo a mission, Myrves had seen the basket of berries and quickly snuck it into her room so she could binge on them during her break. With no ice cream or cake or anything of the like existing here, blackberries were the sweetest thing the young warrior would get. Somehow eating these made her feel good even if they weren't sweet like the comfort food she was used to. She had eaten at least four or five handfuls when she heard the door open and was caught red handed or rather dark purple handed as the berry juice had stained her hands.

"Myrves, put those back where you found them and wash your hands." Raven ordered her. "We have a lot to talk about."

Sighing sadly, Myrves put the basket back in the main room and then washed her hands. Once they were clean enough, she was told to follow her mentor to the library. She knew she would have to explain herself. "I'm sorry Raven; I was binge eating the berries to try to feel better while on my break."

'"Binge eating?' What do you think you can gain from that, young warrior?" Raven asked. He had heard what it was from the other champions before so he wasn't confused by the term, just confused about why she had felt the need to engage in such a potentially harmful activity.

"Comfort; everyone else in my homeland does it to escape unwanted feelings and problems." Myrves answered.

"And if everyone in your homeland jumped off a bridge, would you do the same?" The warlord knew that was a phrase many people had asked teenagers though he hadn't used it often.

"No! Not unless I had safety equipment." The blonde haired teenage warrior tried to joke.

"Myrves, I am being serious." Raven paused and recomposed himself. "Let me ask you this. Does binge eating even work for anyone who has ever done it as a permanent solution to their problems?"

That caused Myrves to fall silent and think about the answer. She was not sure how exactly she should answer.

"I am not letting you leave until you answer the question." Raven said. "I know you do not want to be here all afternoon or all night."

"It's not like I'm smoking or drinking alcohol or using some kind of illicit illegal substance manufactured in my homeland but then again those don't really work well for anyone who tries to do those things" Myrves tried to argue, feeling defensive and covering up her guilt and grief with anger.

Raven gave her a look that meant that he was not going to let her avoid the question.

That look made Myrves feel as if her mentor was basically seeing right through her. It didn't help that if he wanted to, he could try to listen to her thoughts right now. "No, binge eating does not work to solve someone's problems any more than drowning their sorrows would." She finally answered after a few moments.

"That is exactly the point, young warrior. It is a coping mechanism that is just as bad as the other things you mentioned." Raven replied. "There are better ways to deal with your emotions."

"How am I supposed to do that though? I've already talked about it, I've sent a reply letter to my parents and apologized for not being able to attend Tanlev's funeral in that said reply letter. What more do I need to do?!" Myrves was shouting now.

"First you must calm down, fledgling." The warlord knew she hadn't meant to take it out on him; she was just being stubborn.

Myrves was just too upset to listen though and said the one thing she had never wanted to say. "You can't make me! You're not my father!" She yelled and ran out of the library and then into her quarters, slamming the door shut and shoving her desk in front of the door.

"Myrves, do not-" Raven called after her but she didn't hear him. He would have to leave her alone for a while. She was being too stubborn and it was obvious she was still hurting and unable to accept that it would take more than 30 minutes to deal with her issues among other things. Despite having talked to him a few days ago when she had a nightmare about her cousin's death, she had been pushing everyone away again and it was not working. What was the best solution to actually make her realize that? Perhaps the answer would come after a long flight.

Raven left the library and went outside. He then transformed into his avian form and flew off, hoping that the young warrior would be more reasonable later.

Myrves did not come out of her quarters until the next morning and thus had a lot for breakfast after having skipped supper last night. She still felt terrible for losing her temper in front of Raven, especially since she normally wasn't the type to lose control of herself. That said, she did apologize just as breakfast was finishing. "Raven, I'm sorry for what I said last night; I was being unreasonable and disrespectful to say the least and I should not have reacted the way I did." She said sadly.

Raven knew that the teenage girl meant every word of that apology; he did still have to discuss what had happened with her and he hoped that she could remain calm this time after having had time to sleep on everything. "Myrves, we must have a heart to heart talk before you start doing your assigned reading today. Come." He led her towards the library and soon they were in those same chairs they had been sitting in last night.

Myrves was feeling ashamed of herself again. Still she did stop looking down when Raven told her to and he began talking to her.

"Myrves, accepting something terrible happened is something that has to be done no matter how hard it is. It does not do anyone any good to dwell on past regrets. Do you understand that, young warrior?" Raven asked her.

"Yes." She replied. "Last night I was dreaming that Tanlev was speaking to me and said that very same thing; I want to take it as a sign that he forgives me for not keeping in contact with him." The teenager girl felt she was about to cry again. "And then I thought of a story I heard once that's kind of not quite like my situation but still something related to accepting terrible things and feelings associated with them. It's about a young girl who has to move away to a new home in a big city with her family..."

Intrigued, Raven listened to the young champion in front of him tell the story of something called Inside Out and how she identified with the protagonist in it despite the differences between the fictional story and real life situations that she had found similarities in. Perhaps sleeping on what had occurred had led her to the realization quicker.

"I think the only thing I can do now is keep in contact with my other distant relatives and let them know how much I care about them before it's too late." Myrves finished with that sentence. "And I think that might be the best way to help me start living again in addition to focusing on the things I still need to learn before going into a real battle. It doesn't feel like I'll be happy again though."

The warlord put a hand on the teenage girl's shoulder. "Myrves, there will always be terrible things and wonderful things in the world. The most horrible times will not last forever and one day, you will find a reason to smile again. Your fellows and I will continue to be there for you anytime you need us." He assured her. "Remember only when it is dark can you see the stars."

"I guess those stars would be everyone in my life now." Myrves was not smiling just yet; she would need a bit longer before she did but she was finally letting her heart heal and Raven's words had helped with that. "Does this mean you forgive me for my outburst last night?"

"It does indeed, my friend. Although you do have to make up for getting into the blackberries by helping cook supper tonight." Raven replied.

"Sounds like a fair punishment." Myrves agreed. "I am thinking of maybe meditating during part of my break instead of reading because if I start to do that, maybe it can help me focus better and help keep me from losing control of myself again."

"You will never know if it works until you try it, young warrior. For the moment, you must start your assigned reading and be left to it. I will have Kenat come and get you when lunch is ready." Raven said before leaving the room.

Myrves pulled the book she had been assigned to read and answer questions about from the shelf since it was raining outside. She found herself able to focus on it, a sign that she would soon be back to her normal self in good time...


	9. Chapter 9

After the Tournament Volume 1 chapter 9

It was the middle of October and getting colder as it always did when autumn occurred and winter was only a few months away. Today was also Myrves' birthday, the first one she would celebrate away from home once her training was done for the day. She had made good progress in getting a good aim and had been looking forward to opening the package from her family. She didn't think the other warriors or Raven would give her anything seeing as she hadn't been here that long but she would soon find out that was not the case.

Raven did not like the cold but at least for now, he could still fly in his avian form when he needed to. It would not be until it started snowing that he would have to try to patiently wait before it did eventually become warm enough to do so again. It helped that for the moment, Nevar and his forces had been quiet and yet that was not necessarily a good sign. Still he watched Myrves finally fire a blast of energy from her Staff of Power at a wooden target in front of her from above while returning from one of these flights.

"I did it! I finally did it!" Myrves smiled while saying this as the target disintegrated.

Raven soon landed and turned into his human form. It was nice to see Myrves smile again after what she had dealt with last month. "Myrves, I am proud of you." He said to her. "Perhaps it is an appropriate birthday present to yourself to finally be able to achieve such a goal."

"Yeah. It is." The teenage girl replied. "Am I allowed to open the birthday present from my family?"

"Be patient, young warrior. You will be able to do that after supper. For now you may have your break since it is time for that right now." Raven replied.

"Thank you Raven." Myrves immediately ran inside to put her staff away and then found the book she had been reading about Raven's third tournament. She had read about the first two already and it was interesting to see how the champions had won each one. She was lost in the book long enough for the older champions to make a card for her and make supper without being disturbed.

In the meanwhile, Raven was wrapping a gift for Myrves; he had gotten her a new journal since the one she had at the moment had all of its pages filled. There was also some ink and a feather pen in that small package. True it was more practical than anything else but the warlord was sure the young warrior would like the gift nonetheless. He placed it near the package Myrves' family had sent her on the table in the mess hall. It was hard to believe she was fourteen already; where did all that time go?

That evening, Myrves came into the mess hall for supper after washing her hands and saw the two gifts and a card from the other champions in the pile. Raven had not joined them yet but would soon. Then she heard said other champions singing to her a birthday song that was no longer copyrighted in her homeland and was surprised they knew it.

" **Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Myrves, happy birthday to you**!" The other warriors sang.

"Thanks guys." Myrves replied, slowly getting over the shock as she got into a queue with them for soup. They also had some hot tea to drink because it was so cold outside tonight yet the warmth of having the company of good friends as well as the hot food and drink made one forget the outside temperature.

Raven had joined them now. "Many happy returns Myrves. May this next year bring you good fortune and the strength to deal with misfortune that may occur in the future" He said to the youngest champion

"Thank you Raven; I'm really touched that everyone decided to celebrate with me tonight." Myrves admitted. She was smiling just as much as she had been earlier and eating and talking with everyone as they told stories of past birthdays that were memorable.

When they were done eating, Myrves opened the card from the other champions and read it. '"To a warrior who has a lot to learn and has already come so far: never give up and in time, you will be able to achieve all of your goals."'. The teenage girl smiled and then asked them. "Thank you so much. Can I give you hugs?"

"Of course you can Myrves." Arkil replied.

Myrves hugged each of her fellow champions one at a time and they returned the hugs.

Raven was not the type to show that kind of affection but he watched the hug fest and tried not to smile. It was truly heartwarming to be able to have a very rare joyful occasion like this.

Next Myrves opened the package from her family; inside were a few glass jars filled with cookies with paper wrapped around them that had kept said jars from getting broken. "Oh, my siblings must have helped my parents make these cookies." She said, carefully taking each jar out; there were 3 of them. One had chocolate chip cookies in it, one had sugar cookies colored and shaped like ravens, and the third had peanut butter cookies in it. She then looked at the note. '"Dear Myrves, please share these with your fellow warriors and Raven because you all deserve something for you efforts in the battle against Nevar. It's not much but we hope you enjoy it anyway. Happy Birthday, love Mom, Dad, Sanev, Risek, Masvos, Larev, and Rosav."'

"So, are you going to let us have some?" Dyrel asked.

"Yes." Myrves replied. "My mother makes the best cookies or biscuits or whatever you want to call them, at least in my opinion." She opened the jars and the warriors each had one of each type of cookie.

"I hope you remember to tell her that when you write your thank you note to your family, young warrior." Raven said to her. "You do have one more gift by the way."

Myrves finished eating the cookies she had in her hands and then opened the small package from Raven. She had tears of joy on her face as she picked up the journal, the small container of ink, and the feather pen. "Thank you Raven; I love it. I really do."

"I knew you would, my young friend. Make sure you do not waste the paper or ink." He reminded her.

"I won't." Myrves assured her mentor.

The jars of cookies were locked away in a cupboard since Raven did not want anyone to have too many sweets. Then Myrves took the other things she had gotten to her room and put them away before getting ready for bed. Once she had gotten her pajamas on, her mentor came in to check on her.

"I had a good birthday; I miss getting to celebrate with my family but I am glad they remembered it." Myrves said. Cake was also something she missed but she was sure she would get some when she visited home in a few months.

"I am glad to hear that Myrves; do remember that just because you are older does not mean you are wiser just yet." Raven replied. "You still have much to learn before you can go out on the battlefield after all."

"I'm aware of that Raven; you don't have to tell me." Myrves argued, trying not to laugh.

"That may be but your homeland's experts say repetition is good for a developing brain, do they not?" The warlord asked.

"Well yeah, they do but I didn't think you'd agree with them or anything else science related." The teenage girl argued.

"Now where did you get the idea that I had that opinion?" Raven was not offended; he was just teasing her. He then turned serious again "Both science and magic can be good or could be terrible but that depends on who uses them and for what purpose."

"I suppose there's no point in arguing with that." Myrves yawned despite her best efforts to not do so. "I'm not tired!" She quickly lied.

"We can talk more about it tomorrow if you are willing to do so. For now, you must rest because it is obvious that you are tired and you have a lot to do tomorrow." The warlord said to the young warrior.

"Very well then; good night Raven." Myrves laid down on her bed and pulled her blankets over herself after putting her glasses away and blowing out the candle on her bedside table.

"Good night Myrves." Raven replied before leaving her quarters and closing the door. He could only hope that whatever happened throughout this next year that Myrves would be able to handle it. Only time would tell what was to come…


	10. Chapter 10

After the Tournament Volume 1 chapter 10

Myrves had not thought quite as much about home anymore. It had been 5 months since she became Ultimate Warrior and she was fully focused on things she still needed to learn as far as skills went. That included learning how to use her own Staff of Power's other powers since she now knew how to fire bursts of energy from it. While she would not be able to do everything with it that Raven could do with his own staff, the blonde haired teenage girl did not mind at all. Perhaps the thing she liked to learn about the most though was about the things she had been reading regarding the history of Alaunus though she was still allowed to read other things just for pleasure when on break. She hoped to tell a story from her homeland to Raven one day. A fictional one but still one that would be easy to explain.

When her parents had sent her a care package, Myrves had been surprised to receive it but did open in the afternoon she had received it, going into her quarters to do so. The young champion liked what it contained: candy wrapped in pieces of paper, her old plush toy of a raven she had called "Rachael" as a younger girl, and a retelling of one of her favorite stories from a comic book. The young warrior was confused about why it was written on a piece of paper but when she read the note included in the care package, it all made sense.

'"Dear Myrves, we sent you these things because we wanted to remind you of home a little since we know you miss us. Since Raven would probably think comic books are garbage, we sent you just the text of a version of Spiderman's origin story since we hope you can be as responsible as he is with your new duties. We miss you and we hope you continue to do well-Love, Mom and Dad."'. Myrves smiled as she read this note out loud. She then found a bowl to put the pieces of candy in; she would share them with her fellow champions since sweet tasting foods were not something they got to have often. She did keep the candy in her room for now though and she slid the old toy animal onto a shelf. Then she put the copy she had of her favorite story in the back of her journal and put that in a desk drawer and left the room to wash her hands as she knew supper was just about ready.

It was after supper that Myrves was doing a bit more of her assigned reading in an armchair near the hearth. She liked the fact that it would soon be winter even if her mentor did not like it. Funny how we're opposites like that, she thought.

"Myrves, are you even thinking about your reading?" Raven asked her.

"No; I may as well close the book for now." The teenage girl replied. "I was actually thinking about one of my favorite stories from home that I read a long time ago. I don't know that it's one you'd like."

"Young warrior, you should not forget what you grew up with entirely even if there are times I do not understand why you disagree with me on certain issues." Raven reminded her. "I would like to hear it for myself."

"All right; I'll tell you it. It's about a superhero named Spiderman and his story is one that is fictional and very well-known among everyone in my homeland..." Myrves started telling this fantastic story of a boy who gained unusual powers after being bitten by a radioactive spider and his learning a harsh lesson during that first adventure: "With great power, there must come great responsibility."

Raven could tell Myrves was quite enthusiastic about it as it was one of her favorite stories. When she had finished telling said story and explained definitions of terms that were confusing, he told her "Myrves that is actually a very good story and one with a useful lesson you can apply in your own life as well."

"I know; it's actually handling myself in battle that makes me nervous since I don't know if I can be tough enough to make difficult choices." Myrves looked down at her feet while saying this. She knew she would have to kill demons; that would be easy. If there were other humans who served Nevar other than the now deceased Ervan though, well, she wasn't sure she would be able to kill them if she had no other choice.

"It is very trying and difficult to be responsible for keeping evil at bay; while the future can not be predicted, I feel you will be able to handle yourself in battle when the time comes for you to begin fighting alongside your fellow champions." The warlord assured her. "Being responsible with how you use all of your skills in addition to how you use your staff is something you have been able to do so far and can continue to do in the future as you gain more experience."

"Well, I've resisted the temptation to misuse my own staff so far. Did you ever get tempted to misuse your own abilities when Cyrus was training you?" Myrves asked as she looked up at her mentor, feeling curious about that.

"A few times; I was in a sense like every other teenaged warrior in that it was very tempting to misuse the ability to hear others thoughts to do things that are not appropriate to discuss in polite conversation. I did grow out of it and never gave in even when it seemed like it would be easier to do so." Raven answered her.

"It's hard to picture you at my age to be honest." Myrves admitted. "I mean, I know every living animal or human or whatever is someone's child and has to start out somewhere and go through each stage of life doing the best they can to get through each one but still. I'm used to you being so responsible and formal and strict."

Raven could not help but chuckle a little at her reaction. "I am sure there will be other times I can tell stories about when I was your age, Myrves. Like you, I had to learn to be responsible and it took some time to understand those responsibilities and why they were important. It will be the same with future generations of warriors. For now, you must go get some sleep. You have to finish that assigned reading tomorrow after all and not shirk your current responsibilities of learning more things that are necessary for all warriors to remember. Then you might be able to play in the snow since there is some falling right now." He said.

"Sounds good. Good night Raven." Myrves yawned while saying this and then went into her quarters to sleep, She knew it seemed silly that she still wanted to play in the snow at 14 years old but she would probably always be young at heart in a sense even when she did become more mature. She would probably enthusiastically tell Raven more about comic books and why she liked certain ones. Only time would tell.


	11. Chapter 11

After the Tournament Volume 1 chapter 11

It was now December and regardless of what you believe about how someone catches a cold, somehow this had happened to Myrves. She was sure she had gotten it from one of the other warriors seeing as a few of them had been on a mission helping out residents of another land that Nevar's demons had wreaked havoc in. Some of those citizens must have also been sick hence Lamar, Arnor, and Linma getting sick and then Myrves had got the cold from them. Now the blonde haired teenager was awake this morning and sneezing and coughing in addition to feeling hot and cold and just plain miserable. She did notice Raven come in and check on her. "Good morning Raven." She coughed into her elbow.

"It seems like it is not a good morning for you, young warrior. You are definitely not doing any training today." Raven told her.

"Oh come on; it's not that bad." Myrves sneezed into her elbow after saying this. "All right; that's a lie. I'll admit it."

"Myrves, you are to rest until you have recovered in a few days. That's an order." The warlord said to her. "I will have one of your fellows bring you some soup and some tea."

Myrves found a cloth to cough into and she laid back down as Raven left her alone in her quarters. She did not like being this miserable and she wanted to feel better as soon as possible.

It was sometime later after having had the soup and tea that had been brought to her by Arkil that Myrves tried to sneak out of her room. She did not want to stay in there as she felt useless. She did have to pause just before she could get out of the room though.

Raven had a feeling that Myrves would try to sneak out and he was standing outside the door after having walked there to check on her. _Myrves, do not even think about_ _coming out of there_ , he said in the back of her mind.

Darn it, Myrves thought in reply and returned to her bed, coughing and sneezing into the cloth she had.

Then Raven walked in. "Myrves, you are only mortal. Getting sick is simply just a fact of life for you." He said to her. "You will be more useful getting your rest and recovering than trying to train when you are clearly not healthy enough to do so."

"All right; you win. I won't try to sneak out again." The teenage girl conceded as she got back into bed and removed her glasses to put them back on the shelf after sneezing once more. "It's just so freaking miserable."

"Well it has been said misery builds character, has it not?" The warlord asked his young student.

Should have known he'd agree with the dad in Calvin and Hobbes on that one, Myrves thought to herself. "Yeah, some people have said that back in my homeland." She replied after laying down.

"You will recover, young warrior. Just be patient." Raven assured her. He then waved his hand so that a book that Myrves would enjoy would instantly appear on top of her. "Perhaps a bit of reading might help you not think about you illness so much."

"Thanks." Myrves replied, getting her glasses back on as her mentor left the room.

Raven was not as worried about Myrves now though still hoping she would recover soon. She was young and a very strong person in many ways and she would be able to train again soon. The teenage girl did have the common sense to listen to him when she realized he was being serious so Raven knew he would not have to worry about her trying to sneak out of her quarters again.

That evening, Myrves was allowed to take a hot bath and it had helped her feel less congested. She was now dried off and in clean pajamas and back in her quarters, reading a bit about Raven's fifth tournament as she had already finished reading about the third one and fourth one. She was confused about the fact that this was the point where the dragon's eggs in Millstone Towers were replaced with the slumbering skulls and she wanted to know why that change was made. Maybe she would ask Raven when he came in to check on her.

Speaking of him, Raven soon came into the room. He had gotten some potion that relieved cold symptoms sent to him by Cyrus when winter had started and fortunately, there was enough left that Myrves could take some over the next few days to help her recovery go faster. He was also holding a spoon to measure it with.

Myrves sat up in bed. "Good evening." She said before sneezing into a clean cloth she had been given earlier.

"Good evening Myrves." Raven replied. "I hope you are mature enough to not complain about having to take bad tasting medicine."

"Of course I am; I'll just hold my nose while swallowing it so I don't have to taste it." The teenage girl said. She took the spoon from him and carefully poured some of the medicinal potion into it. "This is similar to the cold medicines that are in my homeland, right?"

"It is very similar, my friend. You do not need to worry." He assured her.

Myrves held her nose with one hand and then swallowed all of the medicine on the spoon after getting all of it into her mouth. Then she took the spoon out of her mouth and set it down, took her fingers off her nose and then had some water to get the taste out of her mouth. "Thanks for checking on me by the way, Raven."

"You are welcome, young warrior." Raven replied.

Myrves had forgotten what she had wanted to ask him but did put the book she was reading about the fifth tournament aside and instead asked "Do you ever get sick?"

"Not with a cold. It is a benefit of being immortal not having to worry about illness quite as much." Raven said.

"That's not fair." Myrves complained. "I'm jealous now."

"You should know by now that the world is not fair, my friend." Her mentor reminded her.

"Yeah but to quote one of my favorite stories 'why can't it be unfair in my favor'?" Myrves asked. "That was a rhetorical question by the way." She yawned. It seemed that like normal cold symptom relief medicines at home, the medicinal potion was making her drowsy so that she would be able to sleep the whole night

Raven had to stop himself from smiling too much. That was an amusing comment to say the least and he was going to answer the question it contained anyway. "One has to get used to the fact that they can not control how everything goes in their life. The only thing they can do is simply deal with it the best way that they can. If you want to talk more about this later, we can but for now, you must continue getting your rest."

"All right then; good night." Myrves laid down and fell asleep without taking her glasses off and without putting any of the bed covers over herself. She was just that tired.

Raven removed the young warrior's glasses from her face and put them away before putting the blankets over her. "Good night Myrves." He whispered softly before leaving her quarters. Now he could not wait for winter to be over as then the champions would not have to worry about getting colds quite so much.


	12. Chapter 12

After the Tournament volume 1 chapter 12

Author's note: Because I felt like writing something dedicated to the victims of 9/11 I opted to write this. I am old enough to remember when it happened as I was about 9 years old and my dad was working in the Pentagon that day. Thankfully, my dad was physically uninjured and survived though so many others did not and I feel great empathy for them and their families.

It was a cold February day and Myrves had been home for about 3 days on the first of her only two visits home she was allowed to have for the year. The only reason she had not been able to visit home before now was due to bad weather and the fact that her younger siblings had been dealing with head lice but now that they were lice free, she had been able to come here. She was not in her warrior clothes today as a result. She instead had on a dark colored t-shirt and jeans as well as socks, boots, a winter coat, gloves and a hat while with her older cousin Marsen in a place that was all too familiar for the latter. A memorial site outside of a government building and dedicated to victims of a terrible tragedy that had happened before the teenage girl turned warrior had been born.

"I remember it like it was yesterday." Marsen explained as she had numerous times before, her darker blonde hair falling in front of her face as she looked solemn. "Your uncle Rykan was working here when the planes hit. He was lucky enough to survive but my best friend's mom did not; she died when the original World Trade Center collapsed and things changed for the worse that day for everyone..."

Myrves remembered learning about the September 11th, 2001 terror attacks in school and being shocked at how cruel people could be all because they thought their beliefs justified such a terrible tragedy. 2,996 people dead and 6,000 injured physically. The young warrior felt sympathy for those who had been innocent victims but not for the terrorists who had also died that day. Then there were the numerous other mass killing tragedies throughout history including the ones that had happened in Myrves lifetime; it seemed like they happened all too often to her as she listened to her cousin say prayers for those who had been lost more than 16 years ago.

They soon left the site, Myrves wishing that the only evil things out there were Nevar's demons.

Once her one week visit home was up, Myrves left her normal clothes behind and changed into her warrior outfit before making sure she had packed everything on the day she left to return to headquarters. The other Ultimate Warriors greeted her when she had returned and so had Raven.

The teenage girl went to her quarters to unpack everything before supper. She had enjoyed her visit home overall; it was just that she was deeply empathetic sometimes to the point where she was on the verge of crying which was the case right now.

It had been about 10 minutes later that Raven knocked on the door to tell Myrves that supper was ready.

"I'm coming." Myrves had finished unpacking everything and went to wash her hands and join everyone for the meal. She was acting okay for the most part but Raven knew her well enough by now to sense that the teenage girl was not quite all right. He would talk with her about it once everyone was done eating.

After supper, Myrves was sitting in front of the fireplace in the main gathering area for the champions and was writing in her journal. She could not do it for long though due to not being able to concentrate.

"Myrves, what is troubling you?" Raven asked as he walked in and sat in the chair next to the one she was sitting in.

"Well, it's hard to explain but I'll try my best." Myrves sighed. She explained the visit to the memorial during her time at home and the events that had led to that memorial being built. At times, she had to stop briefly because she was close to crying. Once she was done explaining, she asked. "Is it bad that I feel so much empathy for other people? I know I will have to put it aside in battle and I think I'll be able to but I still wanted to ask." Her unasked question in her thoughts was _why do people have to be that evil?_

As he had listened, Raven could tell that this tragic historical event had affected Myrves' family deeply as well as her despite her not having been alive to remember it. It was a shame that so many had to die before their time and he was not quite sure what to say to comfort the young warrior regarding the unasked question in her mind. He did answer the one she had asked out loud. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with having empathy for others, Myrves. It is important to remember that we can not change any past event that has effected those you have empathy for." He said.

"I can only hope Nevar never gets a similar idea. It's bad enough that humans have committed such acts of terror numerous times and I feared such a thing happening in my hometown for the longest time." Myrves had let her anger surface now as she thought of other terrorist attacks in her homeland and the lands of its allies. The Oaklahoma City bombing, the Pulse nightclub shooting, the first bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993, the bombing that had happened at a concert the previous year in the UK, and many others. She finally asked the second question she had. "Why do people have to be that evil and cause so many others pain and suffering unnecessarily?!" She shouted before finally bursting into tears.

Raven placed a hand on the young warrior's shoulder as she sobbed. "Myrves, those who do such evil acts do so by their own choice and it is not likely anyone could have persuaded them otherwise."

"I know that; I never thought I would be fighting evil myself after hearing of normal armies fighting to keep such a thing from happening again." She replied. She was terrified now as she remembered what she had heard about 9/11 in school and her teacher's story about where he was on that day.

Sensing her fear, Raven spoke in the back of the teenage girl's mind. _Myrves, that is what all those who do such acts want is for others to give into fear, regardless of who it is that does such tragic things. The most important thing to remember is not to give into that fear and do not forget what you are fighting for when you fight the demons who serve Nevar; that is the only evil you can do something about._

Hearing that was just what Myrves had needed to hear. She knew that if one gave into fear or despair, their enemy had already won. She swore to never do the same thing. Her anger had ebbed away now and she was much calmer. "Thank you Raven for letting me get this out; the events of 9/11 will always affect older citizens of my homeland directly but I think they will also understand that same advice about not giving into fear as time goes on if they don't already."

"Let us hope that is indeed the case, young warrior." The warlord replied. "Now it is getting late and you must let heavy feelings pass if you are to get a good night's rest."

"I'll try my best to. Good night Raven." Myrves said before taking her journal back to her room. She prayed for those lost on 9/11/2001 and their families and for all of those lost in mass killings caused by terrorism and for their families as well. She was not going to forget them or anyone who had been lost as a result of Nevar's actions: she would instead do her best when in battle to make sure that no one else would have to suffer through anything similar and hope that one day, peace would be possible and that terrible evil acts would become a thing of a past...


	13. Chapter 13

After the Tournament volume 1 chapter 13

Being fourteen years old meant Myrves was going through puberty and dealing with female only things such as that time of the month. Fortunately, the older female champions had helped explain them well to her and now Raven felt she needed to know something else just as important to someone only a few years away from being considered an adult regardless of their gender.

When the warlord had heard the warriors discussing things they wished their parents had done but hadn't for whatever reason one day in late March, Myrves had mentioned her parents not explaining the "birds and bees" to her. They had said they weren't sure how when she had asked them why in a recent letter. That had surprised Raven; surely someone who had multiple siblings would have known this by now and while Myrves would most likely never have children, she still needed to know the information anyway. What good was a warrior's body to them if they didn't know as much as possible about how it worked after all? She could not remain naïve about this fact forever as someone would surely take advantage of that lack of knowledge.

So Raven decided the best way to do it was to simply give the facts about how it was done and not say whether it was a good or bad thing. Things that were supposed to be good were all too often used for evil purposes, a very sad truth but one that was fact even if no one wanted it to be so. He could only hope that Myrves would understand what he was trying to say well enough.

Thus a day after that talk amongst the champions, Raven pulled Myrves aside and led her into the library during the afternoon.

"What was it that you wanted to say?" Myrves asked her mentor.

"Something that should have been said to you long ago." Raven replied. Then he began the explanation of the birds and bees. He did indeed give her just the facts and somehow managed to explain it really well despite feeling awkward.

Myrves was shocked when he finished the explanation. After getting over it a few moments later, she was embarrassed that her mentor had to explain this topic to her. Raven wasn't showing how awkward this was for him at all; he was great at keeping a cool head in any situation.

"I hope all of that makes sense to you, young warrior." The warlord said.

"It does. I am never going to live down the fact that you had to explain this topic to me instead of a family member doing so." Myrves immediately ran to her quarters, her face red. She swore she would never have children now that she knew how reproduction of humans worked.

Well, she had taken it a lot better than expected. Raven had a feeling that someday this would be funny even if it wasn't so funny right now. For the moment, he pushed it aside and went out for an afternoon flight after transforming into his avian form.

Later, Myrves had explained what had happened to the other warriors when she came out for supper. She almost expected them to laugh at her. Thankfully her fellow champions were more mature than that; they did think it was funny but did feel sympathy.

"Myrves, we're sorry. I can't even begin to imagine how awkward that conversation was." Grema said.

"At least you know now." Dyrel pointed out.

"I guess that is a good point but still." Myrves sighed. "He could have asked one of you to tell me instead of doing it himself; why didn't he?"

"I'm not really sure." Linma replied. "I guess he thought it would be better if he did it because he's so much older than the rest of us."

"Makes sense to me." Myrves continued eating, not saying anything else.

Later, Myrves apologized to Raven for just running off like that while they were sitting in front of the fireplace in the main gathering area. "Can you forgive me?" She asked.

"I can forgive you Myrves and I do not blame you for being embarrassed. That conversation was quite awkward, was it not?" He replied.

"Yes, it was. Why did you want to tell me about sex when Ultimate Warriors are not allowed to do any lovemaking as long as they remain warriors and don't go back to a more 'normal' life?" The teenage girl asked, using air quotes when she said the word "normal".

Raven did have a good answer for her. "I gave you that talk because it is something that everyone should know at your age. After all, a lack of knowledge can cause harm to come to a warrior, including a lack of knowledge about how their own bodies work. Some would take advantage of that and even when that is not the case, such individuals can still do more harm than demons by misusing those actions in ways that are perverted."

Myrves hoped she would never run into someone like that. She was not sure what to say.

 _Myrves, you are right to be afraid of such terrible individuals but you must not let that fear consume you. You are not likely to run into anyone like that here though you should still be mindful of the possibility._ Raven said in the back of her mind.

That reassurance being heard mentally did make Myrves feel calmer. "I know; I'll always be careful and be mindful of everyone and everything around me when I'm on a mission or in battle." She promised.

"I know you will, my young friend. Be aware that growing up happens in its own time and there will be more things that you need to learn." Raven replied. "It is getting late now and you must go to sleep and not worry too much about the future. Good night Myrves."

"Good night Raven; I'll try my best not to worry too much since the future can't be predicted." Myrves went to her quarters. She was soon asleep and thankfully only had good dreams about defeating demons and kicking the rear ends of humans who served Nevar. Another tournament would happen this year and the teenage girl hoped that whoever won it would be a great champion.


End file.
